We forgot about Eid after mother’s murder: Orphaned kids

FARAH CITY (Pajhwok): Four children, whose mother was killed by their drug addict father, say they never witnessed a happy day after their mother’s death and they would spend Eid days at the orphanage instead of home.

Abdul Ghafoor, 12, Abdul Shakoor 11, Abdul Rauf, 8, and Ramin, 7, are sons of Baran, a drug addict who killed his wife and father two years ago.

The four little brothers are currently living in an orphanage in western Farah province.

Today is the 28th of Ramadan as only two days are left to celebrate Eidul Fitr, the religious festival that marks the end of the holy fasting month.

Parents ahead of Eid take their children home from hostels and to the homes of close relatives to celebrate the festival together. But the four children have to spend the joyful days in the orphanage as they don’t have parents and caring relatives.

Abdul Shakoor, 11, who looked sad, said the main cause of their family’s misery was their father’s addiction to drugs.

With involuntary shaking hands and a lump in his throat, he said: “My father was uneducated; he got addicted to drugs after he traveled to Iran for work at a young age.”

He said his father would spend all his money purchasing opium and hashish. Later he could not work and started selling his household items to purchase drugs, Shakoor said.

“It was two years ago when at 12am at night when we were asleep, my father took an axe and hit my grandfather and mother on their heads to death because they refused to give money to my father,” he said.

He said his father escaped after the incident, but police caught him after two days of the incident and he was sentenced to 16 years in jail. “My father is currently languishing in Farah jail,” he added.

Shakoor said his and his three brothers’ lives were ruined the day their father killed their mother and grandfather.

The innocent child said they went to their two uncles’ houses to reside there, but they expelled them.

“Later we went to some of our other relatives, but they also rejected us,” he said, adding they were finally introduced by one of their relatives to Farah orphanage.

Shakoor and his elder brother Abdul Ghafoor are attending seventh grade in Timor Shah Khan School in the capital of Farah.

“I want to become a teacher in future to train children to prevent them from addiction,” he said.

He added his little brothers would cry at nights after their mother’s death, but later they learned living without mother. However, the children could not feel happiness and could not enjoy Eid after the incident.

The youngest brother of Shakoor, Ramin who was eating a piece of bread, said in a sweet childish voice. “I remember my mother, I loved her.”

“My mother would purchase new clothes for us and prepare sweeties to celebrate Eid, after her death, the Eid also finished,” he said.